Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Zucchini Pickles










These zucchini pickles were SO EASY to make and they were very good to eat! Even though they are kept in a Ball Jar, fear not - there is no boiling of the lids or canning in the way that frightens me and keeps me from doing it regularly (although I am proud to say I have made some really good apricot and plum jam when we have a bumper crop on the trees).
The suggested method of eating them was to put them on some toasted wheat bread along with some goat cheese. I bought some herb-chevre spread from Happy Acres Farm (our local goat dairy....what can I say, we are extremely spoiled) and we had it on crackers and topped it with the pickles. Not to mention all of the pickles I just ate right out of the jar. Yum yum! I was even bold enough to pawn some off on one of my farmgirl friends, and her family liked them as well.
Here's the recipe - I used two pretty big zucchini from the garden and one jalapeno, also from the garden.

ZUCCHINI PICKLES

1 lb zucchini, thinly sliced
1 medium white onion, thinly sliced
3 shallots, thinly sliced
1 1/2 TB sea salt
1/4 cup fresh dill sprigs
1 small fresh red chili pepper, very thinly sliced
1/2 TB yellow mustard seeds

3/4 cup cider vinegar
3/4 cup white wine vinegar
1/3 cup natural cane sugar

Toss the zucchini, onion, shallots and salt in a colander and set it over a bowl to catch the liquid. Cover and refrigerate a couple of hours, tossing a couple of times along the way. Dry the veggies on a layer of paper towels or a dishcloth, then place in a 1-quart canning jar along with the dill, chili pepper and mustard seeds (I used a large jar and a small one to give a sample to my friends. You could also do a few smaller jars instead of one large jar if you want to).
Combine the sugar and vinegars in a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil and stir to dissolve the sugar. Continue to boil for a few minutes, then pour the liquid over the veggies and seal the jar. Let them cool a bit, then put them in the fridge.
The pickles will stay good for a week or so, kept in the fridge.
Enjoy!

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